U.S. Coast Guard detains Costa Rican boat carrying cocaine

The owner of the fishing boat detained Tuesday by the United States Coast Guard is a 27-year-old Tica from Puntarenas. The woman, whose last name is Mojica, told the daily La Nacion that she was surprised that her boat and employees had been detained.

The five suspects, four Ticos and a Nicaraguan, were transported to San José to make a court appearance on Wednesday.

The Costa Rican Prosecutor’s Office told La Nacion that Mojica is not being viewed a drug trafficking suspect.

The U.S. Coast Guard detained a Costa Rican fishing boat carrying at least 300 kilograms of cocaine Friday morning. The Tico boat, known as Miss Jacky, was located off of Puntarenas in the Pacific Ocean.

According to a press release from the U.S. Embassy, when a U.S. Coast Guard ship approached the boat, crew members began throwing packages of cocaine into the water. U.S. Coast Guard members boarded the ship around 10 a.m. and arrested four Costa Ricans. Twelve packets of cocaine were recovered, totaling around 300 kilograms.  

“This is a reminder of the serious threat that the drug-traffickers represent for the security of Costa Ricans and the U.S.,” said Eric Nelson, information officer at the U.S. Embassy. “It also represents the importance of the patrol ships of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. We will work with the Costa Rican government so that Miss Jacky and the confiscated drugs are transferred to Costa Rican authorities for judicial processing.”  

The U.S. Coast Guard also detained a Costa Rican fishing boat known as María Canela for trafficking cocaine in August near the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador.